Blending between street view and earth view

ABSTRACT

In one aspect, computing device(s) may determine a plurality of fragments for a three-dimensional (3D) model of a geographical location. Each fragment of the plurality of fragments may correspond to a pixel of a blended image and each fragment has a fragment color from the 3D model. The one or more computing devices may determine geospatial location data for each fragment based at least in part on latitude information, longitude information, and altitude information associated with the 3D model. For each fragment of the plurality of fragments, the one or more computing devices may identify a pixel color and an image based at least in part on the geospatial location data, determine a blending ratio based on at least one of a position and an orientation of a virtual camera, and generate the blended image based on at least the blending ratio, the pixel color, and the fragment color.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/333,678, filed Jul. 17, 2014, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Map applications may display street-level and aerial images of variousgeographic regions for users to view. In addition to viewing theseimages, users may be able to toggle between a street-level image and anaerial image (or vice versa), or view a series of connected ordisconnected street-level images. However, map applications make itdifficult for users to maintain a sense of spatial context and directionwhen viewing the street-level images. For instance, when consecutivelydisplaying two or more street-level images separated by relatively largedistances, it may disorient users from spatial awareness of thegeographic region.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one aspect, a method for generating a blended image comprisesdetermining, by one or more computing devices, a plurality of fragmentsfor a three-dimensional (3D) model of a geographical location, whereineach fragment of the plurality of fragments corresponds to a pixel ofthe blended image and each fragment has a fragment color from the 3Dmodel. Further, the method comprises determining, by the one or morecomputing devices, geospatial location data for each fragment based atleast in part on latitude information, longitude information, andaltitude information associated with the 3D model, and for each fragmentof the plurality of fragments, identifying, by the one or more computingdevices, a pixel color and an image based at least in part on thegeospatial location data. Moreover, the method comprises determining, bythe one or more computing devices, a blending ratio based on at leastone of a position and an orientation of a virtual camera, andgenerating, by the one or more computing devices, the blended imagebased on at least the blending ratio, the pixel color, and the fragmentcolor.

In another aspect, a system comprises a memory and one or more computingdevices, each of the one or more computing devices having one or moreprocessors, the one or more computing devices being coupled to thememory. The one or more computing devices are configured to determine aplurality of fragments for a three-dimensional (3D) model of ageographical location. Each fragment of the plurality of fragmentscorresponds to a pixel of a blended image and each fragment has afragment color from the 3D model. Further, the one or more computingdevices are configured to determine geospatial location data for eachfragment based at least in part on latitude information, longitudeinformation, and altitude information associated with the 3D model. Foreach fragment of the plurality of fragments, the one or more computingdevices are configured to identify a pixel color and an image based atleast in part on the geospatial location data, determine a blendingratio based on at least one of a position and an orientation of avirtual camera, and generate the blended image based on at least theblending ratio, the pixel color, and the fragment color.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory, tangible computer-readablemedium on which instructions are stored, the instructions, when executedby one or more computing devices perform a method for generating ablended image, the method comprises determining a plurality of fragmentsfor a three-dimensional (3D) model of a geographical location, whereineach fragment of the plurality of fragments corresponds to a pixel ofthe blended image and each fragment has a fragment color from the 3Dmodel. Further, the method comprises determining geospatial locationdata for each fragment based at least in part on latitude information,longitude information, and altitude information associated with the 3Dmodel, and for each fragment of the plurality of fragments, identifyinga pixel color and an image based at least in part on the geospatiallocation data. Moreover, the method comprises determining a blendingratio based on at least one of a position and an orientation of avirtual camera, and generating the blended image based on at least theblending ratio, the pixel color, and the fragment color.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a system in accordance with aspects ofthe disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial diagram of an example system in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an example transition from one image to a second image in athree-dimensional model in accordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an example of a relationship between a virtual camera, animage, and a three-dimensional model in accordance with aspect of thedisclosure.

FIG. 5A is an example illustration of pixels associated with an image inaccordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5B is an example illustration of pixel projection based on aposition and an orientation of a virtual camera in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an example illustration of pixel projection and blending inaccordance with aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an example illustration of pixel projection and blending fromanother position and orientation of a virtual camera in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is an example flow diagram in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

The present disclosure is directed to transitions between street-levelimages and 3D models of the same area. A transition may include changingfrom street-level imagery in one location to a 3D model view, and tostreet-level imagery in a second location. For example, a user may wantto view on a client computing device a series of street-level images ona client computing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, computer), each ofwhich may be separated by various distances. In order to maintain asense of spatial context and direction, the client computing device maytransition the display of one street-level image to another street-levelimage via an intermediate aerial view of the 3D model that providesspatial context to both images. In this regard, the user has the feelingthat a virtual camera is moving up and away from one street level imageinto an aerial view and then subsequently moving down and into a secondstreet level image as if the user has “jumped” between the images.

As one example, street-level images and 3D models may be provided to aclient by one or more server computing devices. A street-level image maybe an image of geographic objects, people and/or objects that werecaptured by a camera at an angle generally perpendicular to the ground.A 3D model may include may include information such as textures, shapes,colors, etc. of features within the model. The client computing devicemay prefetch the 3D model and associated information from the one ormore server computing devices.

In order to create a transition between two street level images, eachstreet-level image may be blended with the 3D model for a series ofpositions of a virtual camera to form a blended image. When strungtogether, the different blended images may be displayed or provided fordisplay on the client computing device as an animation of the transitionbetween two street level images.

For a given position of the virtual camera, in order to blend astreet-level image with a 3D model of the depicted area, the 3D modelmay be rasterized into individual fragments. Each fragment may have afragment color derived from the 3D model. Moreover, each fragment maycorrespond to a pixel on the client computing device's display. Using aprogrammable graphics processing unit (GPU) of the client computingdevice, geospatial location data (latitude, longitude, altitude) may bedetermined for each fragment. In that regard, the geospatial locationdata may be used to identify a particular color that a street-levelimage projects onto each fragment form the given position of the virtualcamera. Once respective colors are identified, the client computingdevice may then blend those colors projected from the image with theassociated fragment colors from the 3D model. Any reference to “pixel”in the present disclosure refers to the pixels of an image, e.g., astreet-level image. Further, any reference to “fragment” in the presentdisclosure refers to the fragments of a 3D model.

For each given position of the virtual camera, a blending ratio may bedetermined. Each blending ratio may be based on the virtual camera'sposition relative to the image within the 3D model. The blending ratiomay signify how much color derived from the image there may be comparedto a color of the corresponding fragment. For example, if the positionof the virtual camera and the street-level image are coincident, thecolor of the fragment may be entirely derived from the street-levelimage. As the position of the virtual camera moves away from the image,the blending ratio may be adjusted toward that of the 3D model. Inanother example, the blending ratio may further depend on distortion ofcolor projection from the image onto the fragment. For instance, if theposition of the virtual camera, the fragment, and the image are suchthat the projections are highly distorted, the blending ratio may beadjusted to increase the color of the associated fragment.

The blending ratios are then used to blend the colors corresponding tothe street-level image and the fragments of the 3D model in order togenerate a blended image for each given position of the virtual camera.In this regard, each fragment may be assigned a color using the blendingratio in order to generate a blended image. Again each blended imagecorresponds to a different location of the virtual camera. The finalblended images may be displayed on the client computing device in seriesfollowing the positions of the virtual camera as an animation.

The above-described features provide a user a sense of spatial contextwhen animating from one street-level image to another street-level imageby displaying an intermediate aerial view of the area surrounding bothimages. Moreover, the technology reduces visual distortion of thetransition between street-level and aerial views (and vice versa) basedon a 3D aerial model as well as geospatial location and geometric data.A further advantage is that the technology may be implemented on aclient computing device.

Example Systems

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one possible system 100 in which the aspectsdisclosed herein may be implemented. In FIG. 1, system 100 includesclient computing devices 110, 130 and 160. As shown, the one or moreclient computing devices 110 may contain one or more processors 112, amemory 114, a display 120 and other components typically present ingeneral purpose computing devices.

Although FIG. 1 functionally represents each of the processor 112 andmemory 114 as a single block within the one or more client computingdevice 110, which is also represented as a single block, the system mayinclude and the methods described herein may involve multipleprocessors, memories and devices that may or may not be stored withinthe same physical housing. For instance, various examples and methodsdescribed below as involving a single component (e.g., one or moreprocessors 112) may involve a plurality of components (e.g., multiplecomputing devices distributed over a network of computing devices,computers, “racks,” etc. as part of a parallel or distributedimplementation; further, the various functions performed by theembodiments may be executed by different computing devices at differenttimes as load is shifted from among computing devices). Similarly,various examples and methods described below as involving differentcomponents (e.g., client computing devices 110, 130 and 160) may involvea single component (e.g., rather than client computing device 130performing a determination described below, client computing device 130may send the relevant data to the one or more client computing devices110 for processing and receive the results of the determination forfurther processing or display).

Memory 114 of the one or more client computing devices 110 may storeinformation accessible by the one or more processors 112, includinginstructions 116 that may be executed by the processor(s). Memory 114may also include data 118 that may be retrieved, manipulated or storedby the one or more processors 112. Memory 114 and the other memoriesdescribed herein may be any type of storage capable of storinginformation accessible by the relevant processor, such as a hard-diskdrive, a solid state drive, a memory card, RAM, ROM, DVD, write-capablememory or read-only memories. In addition, the memory may include adistributed storage system where data, such as data 118, is stored on aplurality of different storage devices which may be physically locatedat the same or different geographic locations.

The instructions 116 may be any set of instructions to be executed bythe one or more processors 112 or other computing devices. In thatregard, the terms “instructions,” “application,” “steps” and “programs”may be used interchangeably herein. The instructions may be stored inobject code format for immediate processing by a processor, or inanother computing device language including scripts or collections ofindependent source code modules, that are interpreted on demand orcompiled in advance. Functions, methods and routines of the instructionsare explained in more detail below. The one or more processors 112 mayeach be any conventional processor, such as a commercially availablecentral processing unit (“CPU”) or a graphics processing unit (“GPU”).Alternatively, the processors may be a dedicated component such as anapplication-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”), a field programmablegate array (“FPGA”), or other hardware-based processor.

Data 118 may be retrieved, stored or modified by the one or more clientcomputing devices 110 in accordance with the instructions 116. Forinstance, although the subject matter described herein is not limited byany particular data structure, the data may be stored in computerregisters, in a relational database as a table having many differentfields and records, or XML documents. The data may also be formatted inany computing device-readable format such as, but not limited to, binaryvalues, ASCII or Unicode. Moreover, the data may comprise anyinformation sufficient to identify the relevant information, such asnumbers, descriptive text, proprietary codes, pointers, references todata stored in other memories such as at other network locations, orinformation that is used by a function to calculate the relevant data.As discussed in more detail below with regard to FIGS. 3-6, data 118 maycomprise, for example, at least turn-by-turn directions, road segments,waypoints, panoramic images associated with various road segments,filtering parameters, etc.

Display 120 and other displays described herein may be any type ofdisplay, such as a monitor having a screen, a touch-screen, a projector,or a television. The display 120 of the one or more computing devices110 may electronically display information to a user via a graphicaluser interface (“GUI”) or other types of user interfaces. For example,as will be discussed below, display 120 may electronically display a webbrowser including a map interface with turn-by-turn directions betweentwo geographic locations, corresponding road segments, and waypoints.

In addition, the client computing devices 110, 130 and 160 may be at onenode of a network 170 and capable of directly and indirectlycommunicating with other nodes of network 170, such as one or moreserver computing devices 140 and a storage system 150. Although only afew computing devices are depicted in FIG. 1, a typical system mayinclude a large number of connected computing devices, with eachdifferent computing device being at a different node of the network 170.The network 170 and intervening nodes described herein may beinterconnected using various protocols and systems, such that thenetwork may be part of the Internet, World Wide Web, specific intranets,wide area networks, or local networks. The network may utilize standardcommunications protocols, such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi and HTTP, protocolsthat are proprietary to one or more companies, and various combinationsthereof. Although certain advantages are obtained when information istransmitted or received as noted above, other aspects of the subjectmatter described herein are not limited to any particular manner oftransmission of information.

As an example, one or more server computing devices 140 may be a webserver that is capable of communicating with the one or more clientcomputing devices 110 via the network 170. As discussed in more detailbelow with regard to FIG. 2, the client computing devices 110, 130 and160 may be client computing devices or other user devices, and the oneor more server computing devices 140 may provide information for displayby using network 170 to transmit and present information to a user ofthe client computing devices 110, 130 and 160.

As another example, storage system 150 may store various images. Forexample, the images may be street level panoramic images, photographs,pictures, etc. An example of a street-level image is an image ofgeographic objects, people and/or objects that were captured by a cameraat an angle generally perpendicular to the ground, or where the camerais positioned at or near the ground level. Thus, the street level imagemay represent various geographic objects, such as buildings, a sidewalk,streets, vehicles, people, street lights, signs, advertisements, trees,sculptures, bodies of water, storefronts, landmarks, etc.

Some of the images stored in storage system 150 may also be associatedwith information indicating the orientation of the image. For example,if a street-level image is a typical photograph, the orientation maysimply be the camera angle. If a street-level image is a 360° panoramicimage, such as a 360° panorama centered at the geographic locationassociated with the image, the orientation may indicate that portion ofthe image that corresponds with looking due north from the cameraposition at an angle directly parallel to the ground. Further, theabove-described images may also include metadata, which may include thegeographic location of the image (e.g., GPS coordinates), time of day ortime of year, orientation of the device (e.g., angle, pitch, roll and/orcompass point), accelerometer information, accuracy of the GPS location,GPS location statistics (e.g., urban vs. rural vs. wilderness), etc.

The storage system 150 may also store 3D models of various geographicalareas. For example, a 3D model may be a computer-generated mathematicalrepresentation of a particular geographical area. The 3D model may beprovided for display as a two-dimensional image via 3D rendering or maybe used in computer simulation. The 3D model may be also generatedmanually or automatically via 3D modeling software. Moreover, the 3Dmodel may exhibit various textures, shapes, colors, etc. of the modeledfeatures.

The storage system 150 may further store geospatial location associatedwith the 3D models and fragments thereof. The geospatial location datamay be used to determine which fragments of the 3D model correspond towhich pixels of a street-level image. The geospatial location dataincludes at least latitude, longitude, and altitude informationcorresponding to the 3D model of a geographical location.

As with memory 114, storage system 150 can be of any type ofcomputerized storage capable of storing information accessible by theone or more server computing devices 140, such as hard-drive, memorycard, ROM, RAM, DVD, CD-ROM, write-cable, and read-only memories.Moreover, storage system 150 may include a distributed storage systemwhere data is stored on a plurality of different storage devices thatmay be physically located at the same or different geographic locations.Storage System 150 may be connected to the client computing devices viathe network 170 as shown in FIG. 1 and/or may be directly connected toor incorporated into any of the client computing devices, e.g., 110, 130and 160 (not shown). In that regard, data 118 stored in memory 114 maybe retrieved from storage system 150.

The one or more client computing devices 110 may be a personal computingdevice 210, such as a laptop, intended for use by a user 216 (shown inFIG. 2). The personal computing device 210 may have all of thecomponents normally used in connection with a personal computing devicesuch as a CPU or GPU, memory storing data and instructions, a displaysuch as display 212 (e.g., a monitor having a screen, a touch-screen, aprojector, a television, or other device that is operable to displayinformation), and user input device 214 (e.g., a mouse, keyboard,touch-screen, microphone, etc.). In addition, the personal computingdevice 210 may also include components (not shown) for determining itsposition and orientation. For example, these components may include aGPS receiver to determine the device's latitude, longitude and/oraltitude as well as an accelerometer, gyroscope or other similardevices.

In another example, client computing device 130 may include a wearablecomputing device 230, such as a head-mounted computing system intendedfor use by a user 232, or a computing bracelet, computing ring,computing watch, etc. In a further example, client computing device 160may include a mobile computing device 260 intended for use by a user 262and capable of wirelessly exchanging data with a server over a networksuch as the Internet. By way of example only, mobile computing device260 may be a mobile phone or a device such as a wireless-enabled PDA, atablet PC, or a netbook that is capable of obtaining information via theinternet.

The client computing devices may be configured to operate with anoperating system. In that regard, some of the instructions executedduring the operations described herein may be provided by the operatingsystem whereas other instructions may be provided by an applicationinstalled on the device. The client computing devices 110, 130 and 160,shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and other computing devices in accordance withthe systems and methods described herein may include other devicescapable of processing instructions and transmitting data to and fromhumans and/or other computers including network computers lacking localstorage capability and set top boxes for televisions.

Example Methods

In addition to the operations described above and illustrated in thefigures, various operations will now be described. The followingoperations do not have to be performed in the precise order describedbelow. Rather, various steps can be handled in a different order orsimultaneously, and steps may also be added or omitted.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example transition from a first street-level imageto a second street-level image via a 3D model 300. For example, the 3Dmodel 300 may include at least two different areas 302 and 310. A gap364 between areas 302 and 310 represents that the two locations may beseparated by some distance, e.g., one or more blocks, one or more miles.The gap 364 may be of any size. For instance, the 3D model may encompassthe entire planet, e.g., a transition between an image in New York andan image in Japan. As shown, area 302 may include buildings 312, 314,316 and 318. Further, area 310 may include buildings 320, 322, 324, 326,328 and 330. The areas 302 and 310 may also include numerous parks andpicnic areas, as illustrated.

Locations within the 3D model 300 may be associated with a plurality ofimages, such as street-level images. These images may be available fordisplay when requested by a user via a client computing device, such aspersonal computing device 210, wearable computing device 230, or mobilecomputing device 260. For example, a user may request to view one ormore images from a position 332 within area 302. The images associatedwith the position 332 may be a plurality of street-level images, e.g.,panoramic images, stitched together in a generally dome-shaped orspherically-shaped configuration. In that regard, the user may be ableto seamlessly view all the street-level images from position 332 byrotating 360 degrees. Similarly, a plurality of street-level images mayalso be stitched together in a generally dome-shaped configuration toprovide the user a 360 degree view at position 342.

In one instance, a user may request to transition from one street-levelimage to another street-level image that is some distance away. By wayof example only, a street-level image 340 may be provided for display ona client computing device. From a position 332, the street-level image340 may capture some portions of building 316 and all of building 318.Subsequently, the user may request to transition from the street-levelimage 340 to another street-level image. The next street-level image maybe within the same area, or may be in a different. For instance, atransition from street-level image 340 to a street-level image 350 atposition 342 in area 310 may be generated.

In order to display a transition from one street-level image to a secondstreet-level image, one or more computing devices may render anintermediate aerial view of a 3D model to give a user viewing thetransition a feeling that the user has “jumped” between the images. The3D model may be provided for display as a two-dimensional image via 3Drendering. As an example, the 3D model 300 may be used to provide anaerial view during a path of transition 360 between street-level image340 at position 332 and street-level image 350 at position 342. Duringthe transition 360, a virtual camera may motion about positions alongthe path, ascend from its initial placement at position 332 up to anapex 362 of a path of transition 360 in the 3D model 300 and descend toposition 342 in street-level image 350. For instance, a display screenof a client computing device may be analogous to a film of the camera.In other words, the virtual camera may define the mathematicaltransformation that converts 3D data associated with the 3D model intoimages on the display screen. Thus, from the viewpoint of the virtualcamera, the user has the feeling that the virtual camera is moving upand away from street level image 340 into an aerial view of the 3D modeland then subsequently moving down and into a street level image 350 asif the user has jumped between the images.

A path of a transition from one street-level image to a secondstreet-level image may vary depending on at least the distance betweenthe images. For example, if the street-level images 340 and 350 arespaced further apart, the path of transition 360 may arch higherrelative to the 3D model 300. Thus, the higher arch may give a userbetter spatial awareness and direction between the two street-levelimages.

When rendering a transition from one street-level image to anotherstreet-level image through an aerial view of the 3D model, a series ofblended images corresponding to various points along the path oftransition corresponding to locations of the virtual camera may bestrung together and provided for display. Thus, for each position, e.g.,(x, y, z) and orientation of the virtual camera along the path oftransition 362 relative to the 3D model 300, a blended image may begenerated. In some instances, only a particular set of positions andorientations of the virtual camera may be used during the transition. Inother instances, the blended images may be taken at intervaled pointsalong the path of transition to generate the rendering of thetransition. In this regard, hardware resources in the client computingdevice configured to display the transition may be conserved.

To generate a blended image for a given position and orientation of thevirtual camera, the 3D model 300 may be rasterized into fragments thatcorrespond to the pixels of a display of a client computing device. Inthis regard, the position and orientation of the virtual camera relativeto the 3D model may be used to “project” the 3D model 300 onto thepixels of the display. Thus, each fragment is associated with color andgeographic location information from the 3D model.

FIG. 4 is an example of a relationship between a virtual camera 410 atposition and orientation 412, 3D model 300, and street-level image 340.As shown, the 3D model 402 includes at least fragments 430, 440, 450 and460 that correspond to pixels of a display of a client computing devicegiven the position and orientation 412 of the virtual camera 410. Thelocation information for each fragment, or pixel, may be determined fromthe projection. For example, fragments 430, 440, 450, and 460 may beassociated with different geographic coordinates having respectivelatitude, longitude, and altitude information.

Using the location information for each fragment, the position andorientation of virtual camera 410, and/or the geographic locationinformation of a street-level image closest to the position of thevirtual camera, one or more computing devices may determine which pixelsof the street-level image correspond to the locations of the fragments.This may be used to identify a color of the street-level imagecorresponding to each fragment. In FIG. 4, the virtual camera 410 may befacing street-level image 340. As such, the virtual camera 410 isoriented in a manner such that the pixels of street-level image 340project onto fragments 430, 440, 450, and 460 as well as other adjacentfragments. Thus, each fragment may also be associated with a color ofthe pixels of the street-level image 340.

FIG. 5A is an example illustration of the pixels associated with adisplayable image, such as street-level image 340. As shown, thestreet-level image 340 may have a particular length and a particularwidth. For example, the street-level image 340 may be a panoramic image.Moreover, the image 340 may pictorially be represented by a plurality ofgrid cells 510, where each grid cell represents an individual pixel ofthe image, such as pixel 512. The pixel 512, as well as the other pixelsof image 340, may be associated with certain colors. As noted above, thecolors may be associated with the fragments and blended with thecorresponding color from the 3D model.

FIG. 5B is an example illustration of pixel projection based on aposition and an orientation of virtual camera 410. For example, thestreet-level image 340 may be one of a plurality of street-level imagesstitched together in a generally dome-shaped configuration such that auser may be to view all the images by rotating 360 degrees given aparticular position and orientation of the virtual camera 410. As shown,the street-level image 340 may be slightly curved. Further, the virtualcamera 410 may be positioned to face street-level image 340 and alsotilted upward with lines-of-sight 520, 530, 540 and 550 intersectingvarious pixels of street-level image 340. In one aspect, thelines-of-sight 520 and 550 may represent the boundaries of the virtualcamera 410's field of view.

FIG. 6 is an example illustration of pixel projection onto fragmentsfrom a 3D model. As shown, the pixel projection example of FIG. 5B maybe applied to a 3D model of building 318. For example, when thelines-of-sight 520, 530, 540, and 550 from the virtual camera 410 arefully extended, they may align with various fragments of the 3D model ofbuilding 318. In one instance, the lines-of-sight 520, 530, 540, and 550align with at least fragments 420, 430, 440, 450, and 460, respectively.Using the geospatial location data (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude)of the fragments and alignment information from the position andorientation of the virtual camera 410, the four darkened pixels ofstreet-level image 340 are projected onto the fragments 420, 430, 440,450, and 460 of the 3D model of building 318.

A blending ratio between the colors associated with the fragments may bedetermined based on the position and orientation of the virtual camera410. In this example, a significant amount of color from street-levelimage may be blended into fragments 430, 440, 450 and 460 due to thevirtual camera 410's generally perpendicular alignment with thestreet-level image 340. Once the colors are blended according to ablending ratio, a final blended image of the 3D model may be providedfor display to the user. In this regard, a blended image may begenerated for each position of the virtual camera 410 along the path oftransition.

The blending of the colors of the pixels and corresponding fragments maybe based on a blending ratio. The blending ratio may represent therelationship between the amount of color derived from the street-levelimage and color derived from the 3D model. The quantitative relationshipof the colors may depend on the position, orientation, distance, andline-of-sight of the virtual camera relative to a street-level image.

A line-of-sight from a virtual camera may intersect a pixel at aparticular angle. This angle of intersection may at least in partdetermine the blending ratio at the corresponding fragments. Forexample, the lines-of-sight 520, 530, 540, and 550 from virtual camera410 are generally perpendicular to the pixels that are being projected.Due to this generally orthogonal alignment and the close proximity ofthe virtual camera 410's position and orientation relative to thestreet-level image, the blending ratio may favor the colors from thestreet-level image 340. Thus, depending on the virtual camera 410'sposition, orientation, alignment of line-of-sight, and/or distance fromthe street-level image 340, the colors of the blending ratio that may befavored will vary.

FIG. 7 is an example illustration of pixel projection and blending froma different position and orientation of the virtual camera 410. Thisexample depicts the latter half of the path of transition 360 depictedin FIG. 3. Similar to area 302, the area 310 includes 3D models of thebuildings 320, 322, 324, 326, 328, 330, trees, picnic tables, streets,etc. The area 302 may also be rasterized into fragments that correspondto the pixels of a display of a client computing device. As shown, thevirtual camera 410 is descending from the apex 362 (not shown) of thepath of the transition 360 to position 342 in order to complete thetransition.

From the position, orientation, and distance of the virtual camera 410as depicted in FIG. 7, the lines-of-sight extend and intersect thestreet-level image 350 at various angles. For example, line-of-sight 720intersects the street-level image 350 at a generally non-perpendicular,almost tangential, angle relative to a surface of street-level image350. Further, a large distance separates the virtual camera 410 and thestreet-level image 350. Based on the position, orientation, distance,and the alignment of the lines-of-sight of the virtual camera 410relative to the street-level image 350, the blending ratio may favor thecolors from the fragments of the 3D model 300 of area 310. In thisregard, the amount of color from a fragment of the 3D model 300 mayincrease as the virtual camera 410 becomes less coincident with thestreet-level image 350.

FIG. 8 is an example flow diagram 800 for generating a blended image. Byway of the example depicted in FIG. 1 only, at block 810, one or morecomputing devices, e.g., client computing device 110, may determine aplurality of fragments for a 3D model of a geographical location storedin memory, e.g., memory 114, memory 144, storage system 150. Eachfragment of the plurality of fragments may correspond to a pixel of theblended image and each fragment may have a fragment color. At block 820,the one or more computing devices 110 may determine geospatial locationdata for each fragment based at least in part on latitude information,longitude information, and altitude information associated with the 3Dmodel. Using the geospatial location data, pixel color corresponding toeach fragment may be identified.

Thus, at block 830, for each fragment of the plurality of fragments, theone or more computing devices 110 may identify a pixel color and animage based at least in part on the geospatial location data at block830. The identified pixel color corresponding to each fragment may bemixed with the respective fragment color based on a blending ratio.Further, as noted above, the image may be a street-level image stored inmemory that is associated with the 3D model. At block 840, the one ormore computing devices 110 may determine the blending ratio. As notedabove, the blending ratio may be a ratio of a quantity of the pixelcolor and a quantity of the fragment color. The blending ratio maydepend on the position, orientation, distance, etc. of a virtual camerarelative to a street-level image within the 3D model.

At block 850, the one or more computing devices 110 may generate theblended image based on at least the blending ratio, the pixel color, andthe fragment color. The blended image may be provided for display on aseparate display device, or on the one or more client computing devices110, or other client computing devices such as client computing device130 and client computing device 160 of network 170. Further, when arequest to transition from the image at block 830 to another image isreceived, the one or more computing devices 110 may generate a series ofblended images along a particular path of the transition between the twoimages. The blended images may be part of an animation and may also bestored in memory.

Unless otherwise stated, the foregoing alternative examples are notmutually exclusive, but may be implemented in various combinations toachieve unique advantages. As these and other variations andcombinations of the features discussed above can be utilized withoutdeparting from the subject matter defined by the claims, the foregoingdescription of the embodiments should be taken by way of illustrationrather than by way of limitation of the subject matter defined by theclaims. In addition, the provision of the examples described herein, aswell as clauses phrased as “such as,” “including” and the like, shouldnot be interpreted as limiting the subject matter of the claims to thespecific examples; rather, the examples are intended to illustrate onlyone of many possible embodiments. Further, the same reference numbers indifferent drawings can identify the same or similar elements.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for displaying images in order toprovide an appearance of jumping between the images, the methodcomprising: receiving, by one or more processors of a user input device,a request to transition from a first street-level image to a secondstreet-level image via an aerial view of a transitional image;determining a transition path of a virtual camera between the firststreet-level image and the second street-level image such that thetransition path corresponds to the virtual camera ascending from thefirst street-level image at an initial point in the transition path andthereafter descending down and into the second street-level imagewherein the transitional image corresponds to a location of the virtualcamera along the transition path between a location of the firststreet-level image and a location of the second street-level image, suchthat when the virtual camera is at the initial point in the transitionpath, the virtual camera is oriented towards the first street-levelimage and tilted upward with respect to ground; generating thetransitional image corresponding to the aerial view by: rasterizingfragments of a three dimensional (3D) model onto pixels of a display ofthe user input device, identifying pixels of the first street-levelimage that correspond to locations of the rasterized fragments byextending lines-of-sight from the virtual camera at the initial pointthrough the identified pixels and to each of the rasterized fragments,identifying a blending ratio for blending fragments of the 3D model withthe identified pixels, wherein the blending ratio defines a colorcontribution from each of the identified pixels and the rasterizedfragments, and wherein the color contribution from the identified pixelsbeing greater than the color contribution from the rasterized fragmentswhen the virtual camera is aligned with the street-level images and thecolor contribution from the rasterized fragments increases as thevirtual camera becomes less coincident with the street-level images, andusing the blending ratio to generate the transitional image; anddisplaying each of the first street-level image, the transitional image,and the second street-level image on the display as a sequence in orderto provide 1) the appearance of jumping between the first street-levelimage and the second street-level image and 2) spatial context betweenthe first street-level image and the second street-level image.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: generating a set of transitionalimages including the transitional image, wherein each given transitionalimage of the set is associated with a location of the virtual cameraalong the transition path and each given transitional image of the setis generated based on a blending ratio corresponding to the location ofthe virtual camera for the given transitional image of the set; anddisplaying the set of transitional images in sequence according to thelocations associated with each given transitional image of the set alongthe transition path with the transitional image in order to provide theappearance of jumping between the first street-level image and thesecond street-level image.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein for eachgiven transitional image of the set the blending ratio furthercorresponds to an orientation of the virtual camera at the locationassociated with the given transitional image of the set.
 4. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: generating a second transitional imageusing a second blending ratio different from the blending ratio; anddisplaying the second transitional images in sequence with thetransitional image according to associated locations of the secondtransitional images and the transitional image along the transition pathin order to provide the appearance of jumping between the firststreet-level image and the second street-level image.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein identifying the identified pixels is further based on adistance along the transition path between the first street-level imageand the location.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying theidentified pixels is further based on which of the first street-levelimage and second street-level image are closest along the transitionpath to the location.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining thetransition path includes determining an arc shape of the transition pathaccording to a distance between a location of the first street-levelimage and a location of the second street-level image.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein using the blending ratio includes determining a colorcontribution for each pixel of the display.
 9. A system for displayingimages in order to provide an appearance of jumping between the images,the system comprising: a display; and one or more processors configuredto: receive a request to transition from a first street-level image to asecond street-level image via an aerial view of a transitional image;determine a transition path of a virtual camera between the firststreet-level image and the second street-level image such that thetransition path corresponds to the virtual camera ascending from thefirst street-level image at an initial point in the transition path andthereafter descending down and into the second street-level imagewherein the transitional image corresponds to a location of the virtualcamera along the transition path between a location of the firststreet-level image and a location of the second street-level image, suchthat when the virtual camera is at the initial point in the transitionpath, the virtual camera is oriented towards the first street-levelimage and tilted upward with respect to ground and; generate thetransitional image corresponding to the aerial view by: rasterizefragments of a three dimensional (3D) model onto pixels of the display,identify pixels of the first street-level image that correspond tolocations of the rasterized fragments by extending lines-of-sight fromthe virtual camera at the initial point through the identified pixelsand to each of the rasterized fragments, determine a blending ratio forblending fragments of the 3D model with the identified pixels, whereinthe blending ratio defines a color contribution from each of theidentified pixels and the rasterized fragments, and wherein the colorcontribution from the identified pixels being greater than the colorcontribution from the rasterized fragments when the virtual camera isaligned with the street-level images and the color contribution from therasterized fragments increases as the virtual camera becomes lesscoincident with the street-level images, and using the blending ratio togenerate the transitional image; and display each of the firststreet-level image, the transitional image, and the second street-levelimage on the display as a sequence in order to provide 1) the appearanceof jumping between the first street-level image and the secondstreet-level image and 2) spatial context between the first street-levelimage and the second street-level image.
 10. The system of claim 9,wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: generate aset of transitional images including the transitional image, whereineach given transitional image of the set is associated with a locationof the virtual camera along the transition path and each giventransitional image of the set is generated based on a correspondingblending ratio corresponding to the location of the virtual camera forthe given transitional image of the set; and display the set oftransitional images in sequence according to the locations associatedwith each given transitional image of the set along the transition pathwith the transitional image in order to provide the appearance ofjumping between the first street-level image and the second street-levelimage.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein for each given transitionalimage of the set the corresponding blending ratio further corresponds toan orientation of the virtual camera at the location associated with thegiven transitional image of the set.
 12. The system of claim 9, whereinthe one or more processors are further configured to: generate a secondtransitional image using a second blending ratio different from theblending ratio; and display the second transitional images in sequencewith the transitional image according to associated locations of thesecond transitional images and the transitional image along thetransition path in order to provide the appearance of jumping betweenthe first street-level image and the second street-level image.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to identify the identified pixels further based on a distancealong the transition path between the first street-level image and thelocation.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more processorsare further configured to identify the identified pixels further basedon which of the first street-level image and second street-level imageare closest along the transition path to the location.
 15. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more processors are further configured todetermine the transition path by also determining an arc shape of thetransition path according to a distance between a location of the firststreet-level image and a location of the second street-level image. 16.The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are furtherconfigured to use the blending ratio by also determining a colorcontribution for each pixel of the display.
 17. The method of claim 1,wherein the transitional image is located at an apex of the transitionpath.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the transitional image is anaerial view of the 3D model.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein thevirtual camera ascends up and away from the first street-level image andinto the transitional image.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein thevirtual camera descends from the transitional image and down and intothe second street-level image.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein whenthe color contribution from the identified pixels is greater than thecolor contribution from the rasterized fragments the virtual camera isaligned perpendicular with the street-level images.
 22. The system ofclaim 9, wherein when the color contribution from the identified pixelsis greater than the color contribution from the rasterized fragments thevirtual camera is aligned perpendicular with the street-level images.